When car lovers talk about the latest gener­a­tion of the Mercedes Benz A-class, topics often include its chic inte­rior or its inno­v­a­tive voice control system. But hidden under the hood are many refine­ments to reduce fuel consump­tion that are just as impor­tant for the overall package. One such refine­ment is a tandem pump from ebm-papst, tandem because it actu­ally consists of two indi­vidual pumps.

That means it can take on two jobs at once. When the auto­matic start/stop system is acti­vated, the tandem pump ensures that the trans­mis­sion remains well lubri­cated even when the engine is off. And it assists the dual-clutch trans­mis­sion with gear switching as needed.

When no assis­tance in shifting gears is needed, the corre­sponding half of the pump can be switched to idle by changing its direc­tion of rota­tion. On that note, have a good trip!